Amazon… the place we go for, well… just about everything these days. And why not? They provide an amazing shopping experience, shipping that is faster than fast and an incredible return policy. So what’s the downside?
No matter how good the experience is on Amazon, some shoppers have their own opinions about using the e-commerce platform for their shopping. For instance, some may take issue with the fact that Amazon is helping to seriously disrupt our local economies. Others just want to root for the little guy and support them any way they can.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of 17 online shops for finding items outside of Amazon.
Some brands haven’t made their items available on the e-commerce giant’s marketplace, and the only way to find those items is through the brand’s own website. Of course, how do you know about that brand and the items they offer if you’ve never seen their products before? Great question.
Vendazzo may be compensated through a commission program for purchases made through our links to the shops.
Shop Vendazzo!
Vendazzo is the place to go to find independent websites selling what you want, where you buy directly from the site, without Amazon taking a cut.
Vendazzo helps you search for an item, compare prices from multiple sellers, and go directly to the shop’s website to make your purchase. Searching for items with Vendazzo produces a super clean and attractive experience, with each product neatly displayed for you to zip through and pick out exactly what you’re looking for with a quick flick or scroll.
What can I buy through Vendazzo?
Because we have access to millions of products from more than 100,000 independent shops and brands, there is almost nothing that you can’t find on Vendazzo. We have a growing sample directory of shops that we link to through our search engine that you can browse through.
While counting the number of unique products searchable is difficult to be exact, the following charts give you an idea about the number of products searchable through Vendazzo, and the number of products searchable through Amazon. You can see that with Vendazzo’s access to so many shops and products, we really are an excellent alternative to Amazon.
It should be noted here that Amazon’s product count per category is likely “unique” items. At Vendazzo, we do not have the ability to combine items from different sellers into a single item count, therefore our product count data may seem inflated compared to the available Amazon data.
Source: Scrapehero
Books category removed for improved chart scale.
Source: Scrapehero
Other places to shop online
Apparel & Accessories
Shopping for clothing online and finding unique items can be a challenge. Here are some of our favourite sites for finding some great pieces.
AS by DF
AS by DF has some incredibly fashion forward women’s clothing designs made from a variety of materials, with a focus on leather.
Balardi
Balardi is an online retailer of premium brands such as Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger as well as their own branded designs. They sell everything from handbags and accessories to men’s and women’s clothing, including outerwear.
J.C. Western
J.C. Western is a great source for casual and western wear for men and women. Everything from boots and belts to jeans, shirts and hats.
Stio
Stio is a brand and retailer of outdoor gear and apparel for both men and women. This is a great place to shop for the outdoors adventurer.
Check out our directory page in Apparel & Accessories for a small sample of the shops and brands that are searchable in Vendazzo.
Furniture
Sofa Creations
Sofa Creations is an excellent site to check out for sofas, sectionals, recliners and sleepers.
They allow customization of their sofas and sectionals, so the sofa that you buy from them will fit your space exactly to your specifications.
Froy
Froy has your household furnishing needs covered… With designs for Modern, Rustic, Mid-Century Modern, Farmhouse and many more, you will be sure to find the perfect bedframe, kitchen table or floor lighting to fit your space.
The Brick
In Canada, a pillar in communites across the country for home furnishings has been The Brick. They have been offering affordable furniture, with flexible financing plans to Canadians for decades.
Vendazzo
For many more styles and designs, check our search function to find more shops and items to furnish your home.
Home & Garden
The Home Depot
Next to your local hardware store, The Home Depot is an excellent place to shop online for Home & Garden items. With fast shipping, and instore pickup options for everything you need for your renovation project or housewares in general.
Wayfair
Wayfair is the big kahuna in the world of online housewares and decor. Boasting items from more than 22 Million items from 16,000 suppliers they are sure to have what you are looking for around the house, no matter where you are in the world.
Alchemy Fine Home
Alchemy Fine Home is another home & garden site that brings the shopper an excellent choice of items for the home. With more than 400 items in Bedding and over 700 in Lighting, Alchemy has many options to fit your home’s style.
Mac & Mabel
Mac & Mabel is an excellent place to shop for furniture, housewares and decor. With beautiful bamboo sheets available, this boutique shop is a treasure.
Walmart
We would be remiss not to mention Walmart in a discussion about housewares, and for that matter, everything on this list. Walmart needs no introduction, so I’ll leave it there.
Electronics
Memory Express
If you are a Canadian reader, and you’re looking for an independent tech shop, try Memory Express. Whether you are looking to purchase a prebuilt machine, or you want to buy the parts and build your own, Memory Express has you covered.
This is my favourite shop for buying tech items. Canadian owned and operated with brick and mortar stores in communites across the country, support your local tech shop in Memory Express.
Newegg
Similar to Amazon, Newegg is a marketplace of sellers. Newegg is focused on tech, and if you need computer parts, a new cell phone or gaming consoles, Newegg is a great site to search.
Best Buy
Being a household name in tech shopping, Best Buy has been around for a very long time. With more than 1,000 stores and 100,000 employees in the US and Canada Best Buy has the top brands in home electronics at your finger tips.
Hand Made Goods
Etsy
Etsy is the marketplace of makers. With a current list of active sellers numbering 1.9 million Etsy is a searchable, browesable marketplace of items from individual sellers offering their goods for sale through the Etsy marketplace. Shoppers can find unique vintage items, and handmade goods. Etsy is an awesome community built to empower and reward the creatives amongst us.
Vendazzo
By searching for “hand made” + “handmade” at Vendazzo, shoppers are able to discover handmade items from independent sellers and retailers. From there, the shopper can use the categorization filters to narrow down their desired items. You could also search for handmade gown for instance to find handmade dresses. Of course, search for handmade <any search term you want here> to discover unique, personal items as well.
Conclusion
One thing is certain… e-commerce is changing fast to bring you, the consumer, a better shopping experience. There’s a reason why Amazon has become so dominant in the shopping space, and that is because they have spent the past 20+ years refining their product so that they bring you (mostly) good products at (mostly) good prices.
Web platforms like Shopify, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, Big Commerce and WordPress are all working hard to simplify e-commerce for retailers and new brands. The downside is that all of these platforms provide an individual web presence for the brand or retailer, and don’t help you, the consumer, find a great deal or compare offerings.
At Vendazzo, we are working to bring you a better shopping experience where you can find what you’re looking for, support retailers directly, and have an alternative to Amazon. Keep checking in and trying us out for your online shopping. We will continue to work on bringing you a better experience with more items and improved search results so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for, and find it at the best price.